School shootings are a social phenomenon

I reviewed this book in June but I just wanted to mention that The Tipping Point might be interesting to read after the shooting that happened in Finland. Gladwell proposes an interesting theory on social phenomenons touching the youth which could very well explain the current outburst of school shootings. This new epidemic could be far from having been reached its climax if nothing is done to counter it, and by this I don't mean simply toughening gun laws.

Two books. Two bestsellers. Not new at all!

The Tipping Point is an interesting book. Not fundamental, but interesting. Through a drawn-out exposé, Malcolm Gladwell explains his theory that little things can transform movements into mass movements. It links social psychology to marketing techniques and statistics, in the same spirit as Freakonomics. Though Gladwell sometimes theorizes too much (lots of categories, sub-categories, examples with no apparent link between one another,) he presents facts that are worth just knowing.

A Short History of Progress is a compilation of lives and deaths of some of the biggest civilizations on earth. It doesn't say anything new, it's not complicated to read, but its message will never be said too many times. History shows that those brilliant civilizations - Sumer, Easter Island, Maya... - have all done mistakes that led to their disappearance. And History proves that this will happen again, to us. Because nobody is able to remember History, it seems.